Looking forward to some history

When I started collecting articles for this edition of God & Nature magazine, I was looking to include both "classic" history articles, where memorable stories and people are described and their impacts discussed, as well as personal narratives of how learning about the history of science and Christianity affected a person's beliefs, or guided their struggle with major issues.

What I didn't expect was for the ASA, itself, to be a major theme in this issue. But as you'll see, many of our authors (Ted Davis, Walt Hearn, and Terry Gray, especially), have either dedicated whole articles to ASA history or have noted specific instances in which the American Scientific Affiliation and its members have been active in shaping public science/faith dialogue over the past century, both as an institution and as individual members cast and recast their understanding of science/faith issues through ASA meetings and publications.

We're excited to be launching this issue of God & Nature magazine and to be highlighting the important work of the ASA and its scholars over the years. Some of these articles are longer than our typical fare, but we hope you'll enjoy the detailed work our writers have done to bring each story and its characters into clear relief with each other and the prevailing cultural/religious/scientific background of their time.

Stay tuned next season for our issue on "Knowledge and Information"—if you have an essay, poem, or story you'd like to contribute, please email me at emily@asa3.org. And as always, thank you for your support and encouragement!